At an event as large as the Black Hills Rally in Sturgis the attendance is bound to go up and down year to year for a number of reasons. However the 2011 Sturgis Rally showed some of the lowest attendance numbers in over eleven years. City officials estimate that the 2011 attendance was down 11% compared to last year, which is just another drop in what appears to be continually declining attendance for the rally.
In a statement to the Rapid City Journal, Sturgis Rally Director Brenda Vasknetz said "the drop in attendance had been expected since the 2011 rally followed the 70th anniversary year. She also cited the weak economy, high gas prices and Missouri River flooding."
Although there was just a slight drop in the number of vendors who set up in Sturgis, about -4%, the sales were down overall sales were down an estimated -10% (based on taxable sales from temporary vendors).
The only thing that seemed to go up in 2011 was the calls for police service which according to Sturgis Police Chief Jim Bush there were 1,376 calls for service in 2011, compared to 1,145 in 2010
Here are the estimated attendance numbers for the Sturgis Rally over the past 11 years...
2000 - 633k (60th Anniversary)
2001 - 410k
2002 - 450k
2003 - 502k
2004 - 514k
2005 - 525k
2007 - 457k
2007 - 507k
2008 - 415k
2009 - 442k
2010 - 467k (70th anniversary)
2010 - 417k
Article by CycleFish.com
Sources: Sturgis.com and the Rapid City Journal
October 25, 2011- -
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December 23, 2011- -
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